


Your Love Is Scaring Me (No One Has Ever Cared For Me)

by Strideshitt



Category: Thornville High
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-01-23 05:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18542785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strideshitt/pseuds/Strideshitt
Summary: Swag thinks he knows what he's in for when he befriends One, but he ends up getting far more than he ever bargained for.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is entirely self indulgent and I have nothing to say for myself.

Swag sees him for the first time sitting in the classroom being used for detention that day. He never met the dude before, but immediately recognized who he was. Gabriel Kell, but everyone always called him "One". Even the teachers did, when he went to class that was (which, if the stories were true, wasn't often). He has a single silver lip ring, hair the color of rust, and a look of pure boredom on his face. His eyes though... Probably the second most talked about feature on him, besides his height. They were yellow. Not some natural green or brownish crap that looks "like honey in the sun" or whatever people said to impress everyone, but honest to God yellow. Swag heard many a whisper from other students comparing them to the eyes of a wild animal, and seeing them here? He felt inclined to agree. 

"Sit down, don't talk." The teacher in charge of supervising them says to Swag. 

He shrugs, plops down in the seat next to the other boy, and says "So, what'd you do to get stuck here? Caught sucking dick in the bathroom?" 

One turns his head to look at him, eyes cold and threatening. He doesn't speak, just stares. Or glares is probably more accurate.

"Hey, what'd I just say?" The teacher huffs, then mutters "I don't get paid enough to babysit." 

Swag forces a fake smile on his face, a toothy grin meant to display confidence he didn't truly feel at the moment. "What, too emo to talk to me? Is it cause I look like a prep? Sorry Ebony Darkness, I look GREAT in pink, we can't all pull off the dark brooding look like you." 

Again One doesn't respond, just looks away and turns his attention to the window on his right. Somehow, in that moment, Swag decides that he's going to be friends with that boy if it kills someone.


	2. Chapter 2

It's a week before Swag catches sight of One again, turns out the rumors of him skipping school constantly? Very true. It seems like that day in detention was destined to happen, that they were SUPPOSED to cross paths. Not that Swag was religious or believed in God or any of that shit. It just felt like the universe wanted him to know that guy, and who was he to turn away from that? 

One is sitting outside when Swag notices him. It's the middle of class, and the boy is just sitting out there smoking a cigarette as if it's the most natural thing in the world. Beside him sits a boy that Swag knows ALL too well. Andrei Volkov, but of course everyone just calls him by a nickname too. Nightmare, and boy does he live up to that name. He's one of the resident bullies, and more often than not Swag finds himself in his cross hair. It's not a surprise that One is friends with him (the two flooded the school's basement once together, didn't they?) but that doesn't mean he has to like it. The person he wants to befriend being besties with the guy that's been tormenting him ever since the first day of school? Not a great start. He could deal with it though. 

"Hey, I gotta pee." Swag says out loud, addressing the teacher without raising his hand. The woman sighs and makes a dismissive hand gesture towards the door, giving Swag all the permission he needs to haul ass outta there. Skipping class? That loser better appreciate this and drop down on his knees in thanks that Swag has decided to grace him with his friendship. 

"Oh, look who it is." Nightmare notices him first, grinning like a god damn Cheshire cat as the shorter boy approaches them. One raises an eyebrow when he gets a look at him, expression just the mildest bit interested (although it's gone quickly and replaced once again with a look of complete apathy. Of course.) 

"Hey losers." Swag greeted with his usual practiced level of fake confidence. Unlike a large number of the other victims, Swag didn't actually FEAR Nightmare. More saw him as a nuisance and tried to avoid him at all costs, because who WANTS to be beat up by a guy who wears fucking chains on his pants? 

Swag sits down next to One as if he belongs there and Nightmare scowls. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

Swag frowns. "Why are you worried about me? I'm not the one with a straight F report card here." It's not a secret by any means that Nightmare has some of the worst grades in the sophomore class. One snorts and Nightmare glares at him for a second before turning his attention back to Swag. 

"You're gonna regret--" 

"Chill out man." For a moment Swag wonders if someone new has walked up to join them, but it doesn't take long for him to realise the monotone voice WAS coming from One. His voice is deep and flat like most of his expressions, and Swag finds himself wanting to be friends with him even more.

"Holy shit. You CAN talk. Here I was thinking you were training for mime school." 

One doesn't react in anyway to the other boys comment, and Swag finds himself wondering if that's a good thing or a bad thing. 

 

Nightmare grumbles something under his breath and begins to walk away, clearly annoyed by Swag's mere presence but not in the mood to do anything about it. One quickly notices his friend absconding, turns to Swag, and offers a simple "see ya" before both boys disappear from school property for the rest of the day.

That interaction was all the evidence Swag needed to decide that his efforts to win over One's friendship were absolutely destined to succeed. No one says bye to someone if they aren't at least vaguely interested in them, right? 

 

Swag found himself getting detention on purpose now with more frequency, all for the possibility of seeing the tall mysterious boy he had set his sights on. He showed up, occasionally. Didn't seem to care much about Swag's presence anymore either. He let the boy in pink sit next to him without a word, which to Swag meant one thing: 

Progress. 

 

Eventually One seemed to accept Swag talking to him as well. He rarely responded and even more rare did it seem he even paid attention, but it was SOMETHING. It was at this stage that the gifts began. Random things, but each with one thing in common: they were the same color as the older boys gloves and pants. Red. Bright, vibrant red, sometimes (although rarely) the color was less brilliant, but Swag made it his mission to earn One's friendship in some way, and material possessions? That was a field Swag was an expert in. 

 

It started with a red lighter, tossed to him the day after he had complained to Nightmare about losing his favorite. This one was boring, just red and plastic, but it was a lighter. He didn't say thanks, but Swag saw some spark of... SOMETHING in One's eyes at that moment. A spark he wanted to see again and again. 

 

"Here." Swag said, plopping down a red lunchbox onto the desk in front of One. He'd brought this stupid thing to school 3 days in a row before the older boy bothered to show up again. Didn't he care about graduating? 

 

One's eyebrow quirked as he looked at the newest gift. "...A lunchbox?"

 

"Yeah." Swag responded simply, trying his best to not let a blush grow to his cheeks. 

 

"No thanks." One paused for a second. Then: "Just stop giving me stuff already."

 

Swag frowned. "Most bitches would be drooling over my dick for so many gifts, what's up with you?" 

 

One stared at Swag with a completely blank expression. He didn't say anything, but Swag knew this conversation was over. And somehow... he felt like he had lost it. 

Swag listened to One's request to stop with the gifts. No reason to risk pissing him off and spending money to do it. He surely had the means to piss him off without using a single dollar or gift. But, that left him confused. Being rich usually made people at least PRETEND to want to be around him, and most those people weren't half as poor as One was (he'd seen the boys bike. It was in shitty condition, and he lived in the worst part of town. Not things someone with money could relate to.) 

Nightmare is yelling the next time Swag sees him outside with One. At first he assumes that the other boy is bullying some helpless freshman, but when he looks harder he sees that no one else is near him besides One. That's interesting. He wants to go up, interrupt them, make a joke about some kind of lovers quarrel, but he doesn't want to miss class. That's what he tells himself, anyway, because he doesn't actually want to be in the middle of that. He will never admit it openly, but the thought of willingly throwing himself in front of an angry Nightmare? Well that sure would make him live up to his name. Swag wasn't afraid of him, thought he was edgy and tries too hard, but that didn't mean he was stupid enough to think Nightmare wouldn't break his jaw over nothing. 

 

He stares out the window most of his next class. He isn't in a room where he can see One and Nightmare's usual spot, but he still can't seem to focus on anything but that. He hadn't been close enough to really make out most of the words Nightmare was barking, but he still found himself trying to repeat them in his head. They all sounded like a jumbled incoherent mess though, unfortunately. 

One actually shows up for detention that day, takes his usual seat, and doesn't speak a word when Swag sits next to him. The younger boy wants to ask what the hell happened that morning, but One was giving off a strong 'don't speak to me vibe' that was even worse than usual and for once Swag listened to it. He couldn't help but wonder if the older boys foul mood was because of whatever happened with Nightmare. 

One didn't come to school again for the rest of the week. 

 

Nightmare, however, did. His bullying towards Swag had been pretty common over the past few years, but suddenly it seemed as if his only target WAS Swag. 

 

"Piece of shit." Nightmare would spit every time he saw Swag walking by or doing anything else. That was the lightest he got off however. More common was random punches (thankfully it seemed Nightmare never gave more than 3 in one sitting.) 

 

It was on Monday the next week that that changed. Swag had already taken a few hits, expected Nightmare to laugh and move on with his life. 

But he didn't. 

 

The hits kept coming until Swag was on the floor. The punches turned to kicks, and oh God he was going to die like this wasn't he? Beaten to death by some hot topic model reject. That was not the glamorous death he expected. In fact it was probably the worst death right next to being eaten by a giant squid. 

 

Swag was writing his will internally when the hits stopped. He looked up in confusion, expecting to see Nightmare staring at him or walking off only to see... Neither of those things. Instead he saw One with the slightly shorter boys shirt gripped tightly in his gloved hands, Nightmares back pressed against the lockers. 

 

"What the fuck?" He huffed, slapping One's hands away after taking a moment to fully realize what was going on. 

 

"You're seriously beating the shit out of babies now?" One asks, taking a step back. His voice is still practically monotone, and yet it had the most emotion in it that Swag had heard so far.

What the fuck was going on?

 

"What the fuck is going on?" A voice cried as a teacher stepped out of his classroom. The man sputtered in disbelief at the sight in front of him. "Office!" He cried out again. "Go to the office, all of you!" 

 

"Fuck that." Nightmare said, spitting on the floor and walking off towards the nearest exit. One just stood there, watching him go in silence before turning his attention to the boy on the floor. 

 

"Get up. I know Nightmare doesn't hit hard enough to break any bones. You're fine." And, with that, One headed off towards another exit himself. 

 

Swag never ended up going to the office either.


	3. Chapter 3

This detention felt the longest. Neither Swag or One said a word the entire time. But as One stood to leave his hand lingered over Swag's desk for a moment before dropping something without so much as a word or even a glance. His face was still completely stoic as he quickly absconded. Confused as hell Swag looked at what One had dropped on his desk. It was a small pink keychain in the shape of a crown. Pink and glittery as hell. Swag couldn't stop the grin that formed on his face. Looks like all of his effort hadn't been in vain after all, somehow. 

One doesn't talk anymore than usual the next day, but Swag finds comfort in his presence. Nightmare scowls at him in the halls, but it's barely different than before so Swag doesn't even care enough to be bothered by it, as long as he wasn't getting punched it didn't matter what Nightmare says or does. He feels as if he's on cloud nine. It's hard to tell if One considers him a friend now, but that doesn't really matter since Swag has decided for him that, yes, they are friends now. He had succeeded in what he had wanted to do this whole time. And, now that they were absolutely friends, it wouldn't be weird for him to walk up and talk to One whenever he saw him (not that he hadn't kind of been doing that this entire time anyway). Although, even though he considered One his friend, he felt like that wasn't enough to TRULY get the others approval and respect. He felt like that would be far harder to achieve than the "friend" title he was so convinced he already earned.

Swag had never even considered going to a Hot Topic before this moment. Fuck, he didn't even want to be considering it now. It was weird, and there were all kinds of... NERDS in there. Not to mention the fact Swag was afraid even looking at the store would make him catch some edgy disease. God if this didn't make One see him as cool nothing would. 

He showed up to school the next day dressed up in the edgiest clothes he had bought (with the tags still on of course. He wasn't going to KEEP this shit. Just show One how cool he was and then ditch them). Luckily, One seemed to be coming to school far more consistently now. Probably got some kind of truancy speech and didn't want to hear it again, though it served him right. 

 

Swag found him outside that morning, leaning against a brick wall and smoking a cigarette. He looked as cool with his lip ring and dark clothes. Swag only hoped he looked equally cool (which obviously he did under normal circumstances. He probably looked twice as cool as One when he wasn't dressed up like a bargain bin bum from Emos R Us). 

 

"Hey!" Swag shouted in greeting, and One glanced over to him. Swag watched his expression shift from apathy to one of amusement. 

 

"What are you wearing?" 

 

"Why, are you jealous?" Swag said, grinning and showing off his ridiculous outfit. A black shirt that said "I ♡ your mom", black skinny jeans that DEFINTELY earned the right to be called "skinny" (Swag already accepted he'd need to call the fire department to get out of them), knee high black converse and a nice spiked wristband to top it off. He knew some of the tags were still visible and probably looked stupid, but the edgy kids got off on not caring right? So why would he care enough to remove tags. It probably made him cooler (or edgier) than One honestly. 

 

One practically snorted in amusement. "Absolutely." He said with a roll of his eyes. He watched Swag for a moment and then reached down to pull something out of his backpack. Swag craned his neck to get a look at the item before One showed it to him. It was clearly some kind of glass bottle, and when One held it up to him he saw clearly that it was labeled "vodka" and filled with a clear liquid. Jesus Christ, was this dude seriously bringing alcohol to school? Of course he was. He was a delinquent after all, why was this even a surprise? He would probably bring crack rocks with him if he did that shit. 

 

"Wanna drink?" One asked, offering him the bottle. Swag took it with gusto, although some part of his brain was screaming at him to give it back. He'd never drunk any alcohol before, much less at fucking SCHOOL. They could get suspended for this. They could get EXPELLED for this. And yet still Swag found himself popping the cap off and sniffing the bottle. It had a vague scent of rubbing alcohol, but otherwise didn't really have a smell. He glanced up at One and saw that those yellow eyes were firmly locked on him, watching every action. Clearly Swag had no choice but to chug this shit to impress One. He'd come too far to back out of this now. After all, how bad could it possibly be? 

 

He brought the bottle to his lips and tossed his head back, eyes screwed shut as tightly as possible as the room temperature liquid rolled down his throat. It didn't burn, it barely even had a flavor. Maybe everyone in movies or whatever was just weak, as shit, because Swag wasn't having any problem chugging half the bottle in one go. He expected his first time drinking to be entirely different than this, expected the flavor of the liquid to be harsher, and yet none of it matched his expectations. Weird. 

One was smirking at him, while Swag was trying to figure out if he felt different yet. He didn't, but didn't want One to think he wasn't cool or something, so he did the first thing he thought of. 

Act. 

"Shit this is good." Swag exclaims, and One smirks at him. 

"Yeah? You used to drinking vodka?" 

"Only every day."

One quirks an eyebrow. "Really?" 

Swag takes the other boys skepticism as a sign he is caught off guard by the totally real realization he just had, but in reality One doesn't believe a word that's coming out of Swag's mouth. 

 

"Yeah, I'm not some kind of baby." Swag says with a sniff and takes another swig of the clear liquid. One snorts in response. 

 

"I see." 

Swag take one last sip of the drink, then tightens his grip on the bottle's neck. Its now or never, he thinks to himself before throwing the bottle full force at a nearby car, laughing as he does so. "Yeet!" 

 

One's mouth opens in surprise, his cigarette nearly falling from his lips as a result. "Holy shit." 

 

The bottle smashed against the side of the car, exploding into pieces of glass and liquid. 

 

"Hey!" A voice calls from the opposite side of the patking lot. Mr. Cho, the mechanics teacher, quickly closed the gap between himself and the two teens. "My car!" He cries out in a combination of anger and something akin to despair. 

"Shit." One says under his breath. This is one of the rare instances where Swag stays silent, but agrees with the sentiment. Shit indeed. 

 

"You!" Mr. Cho points at One. "Detention!" His attention turns to Swag. The two have never met before but after a momentary pause the teacher decides that he must be just as bad as One and adds "you too!" before stomping away. 

 

Swag laughs and then, in a moment fueled by pure adrenaline, grabs One by the shirt and pulls him down, messily mashing their lips together in a sloppy kiss.

The older teen sputters a he pushes Swag away in disgust. "It was just water!" He announced before storming off. 

Swag watches the other leave and can't help but instinctively bring his fingers to his lip. Jesus Christ, he just kissed that boy while pretending he was drunk. How the fuck does one recover from that?


End file.
